So Alfred went to the vet today and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Alfred really likes treats and figured out pretty quickly where the 'treat drawer' was in the exam room. He sat and stared at the treat drawer, trying to use the Jedi Mind Trick to get it to open.

He didn't flinch for his AVID and was very tolerant for the whole examination. The rundown:

His heart is good and his coat is starting to look better. The vet thinks probably flea allergy dermatitis at some point. She also thinks he's probably not as old as we thought...most likely between 5 and 7 years old. He's still very swollen from his neuter and she suspects that will take another couple of weeks to resolve. Teeth are good and she said he was 'goofy'. And he WAS acting goofy. Pawing at her leg and then rolling over onto his back while laying on her foot so she could give him tummy scratches. I wanted to do lab work because he's drinking a lot of water but she said to wait and that he could still be detoxing from his neuter. He's got roundworms but I pretty much expect that. His kennel cough is completely resolved.

Now the 'not so good' stuff. He needs to lost weight, lots of it.....like ten pounds. I knew he was fat I guess I didn't realize HOW fat. The vets exact words, "Well, he's not morbidly obese." So he's on a diet. I cut some of his kibble out and added green beans so he doesn't feel like he's starving. I'll start taking him to work and exercising him. I've been holding off on pushing him too hard as he had such a rough neuter and there's the hip thing.

So.....as far as his hip goes, the vet thinks most likely a hit by car hip or pelvis injury that went untreated. His back leg is pretty much useless and sometimes even crosses over the other back leg. It never seems to bother him but he's also a pretty tough old dog that doesn't really gump at all. He still enjoys chasing the ball and knows he has to wait to be lifted into the car. And at 63lbs I'm getting a work out too! She wants to re-assess him once he loses some weight. I'm going to supplement him with some MSM and Cosequin. Does anyone have supplements that they really like? I don't mind paying more for high quality supplements.

That's about it. He's happily crashed in his crate, snoring away.

~Jeanine

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

I :HeartBeat: Cosequin, based on what I've seen in Oscar, its been totally awesome.

what a good boy He may have looked older because of some arthritis from dealing with the injury - Oscar has some front end issues (arthritis and tendonitis) that I firmly believe are due to being active while trying to deal with the effects of Hip Displasia. It would have made Alfred look stiff and old

I'm sure he'll be feeling fantastic in no time with you

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
_______________________________________
"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07